Defiance
by Eve-Mag
Summary: One rich Amarrian Holder betrays the Empire and frees tens of thousands of slaves. What will he do now?


by Securitas Protector

Year 103, Pre-Emancipation

Seth Aldaris gazed out the window, watching the stars slowly move by as the warp drive of his ship hummed quietly. A high pitched whine was heard in the distance as the warp drives suddenly blazed up to maximum power, and the stars became a blur before becoming completely obscured.

_What am I about to do? Is it worth it? Me, a prominent Holder and CEO of Aldaris Mining and Industry, doing something like this? Crazy._

Crazy, he thought, but necessary. As the sole heir and now CEO of Aldaris Mining and Industry, or AMI, a small yet upcoming Amarrian corporation with the third-largest slave workforce in the universe, he held power unheard of by most of the denizens of New Eden.

_And I'm going to use that power for good._

A small, terse smile crept across his face as the ship around him dropped out of warp. Directly ahead was a highly secured stargate surrounded by Amarrian customs and navy ships, including an Armageddon class battleship. Bitterly, he recalled that this gate led to an undisclosed location in Minmatar space, and was used to place Amarrian slavers in the heart of Matari space. In fact, he reminded himself, that's why he was here today.

In only moments, a massive convoy would come through the gate, heavy with slaves and stolen goods. Some of the ships were AMI property, others belonged to the Carthum Conglomerate, Khanid Innovations, and myriad other Amarrians slave-holding corporations.

_Gate activation detected._

As the massive flash of multiple gate activations splashed light over the observation deck, Seth walked over to a communications panel and held down a single key.

"Turn the ship and approach the gate in combat formation."

The pilot nodded and did so without question, not daring to ask why. There was a twist in the Holder's stomach as the massive Apocalypse-class battleship shifted direction. Outside the observation deck, four Punisher-class frigates flew by in tight formation, followed by a pair of Omen class cruisers.

Suddenly, the screen in front of Seth flickered and he blinked rapidly. His advisor, personal assistant, and the only other AMI employee clued into the nature of the upcoming operation, Azih, materialized onscreen.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Seth. You'll be exiled for sure, if not executed."

This caused Seth to pause momentarily, before he sighed and stared straight at the man on the other side of the screen.

"I know, my old friend, I know, but this must be done. Besides, the courts wouldn't dare execute such a prominent Holder and friend of the Empire as me."

Azih shrugged helplessly, obviously conveying that he wasn't sure, but knew he wasn't going to win any arguments now.

"Azih, tell Gunnery to track the customs battleship."

The man hung his head, nodded, and the channel closed. With that, Seth paced over to the edge of the observation deck and watched the massive Tachyon lasers turn slowly as commanded.

"All decks, we have information that the entire convoy has been commandeered by Minmatar rebels. Our duty to the Empire demands that we destroy those rebels who have obtained armed ships, and recapture all Amarrian assets. You will fired as orders on all designated targets."

One heartbeat passed. Two. Ten.

"This is the Amarrian Customs Vessel Imperator, under the command of the Amarrian Navy. You are to disengage all weapons targeting systems. All AMI vessels are ordered to stand down. If you do not comply within thirty seconds, we will open fire."

A few seconds passed.

"Twenty-five seconds remain. This is not an empty threat."

Seth waved in the general direction of the communications panel behind him.

"Azih, shut him up, please."

No verbal answer came, but the sound of eight massive weapons capacitors charging up could be heard throughout the ship. Without warning, eight pure-white beams of radiant energy suddenly snapped out and made contact with the Imperator's side.

Seth watched ripples spread throughout seemingly empty space as the laser beams cut through the Armageddon's shielding. Within three seconds, the ripples had vanished and the scalpel-precise lasers had impacted naked hull plating. Seth instinctively closed his eyes as the metal only twenty kilometers away glowed a deep cherry-red and globules of superheated tungsten carbide the size of small frigates tumbled through space.

"Diagnostics report that we have disabled 25% of enemy firepower and 7.5% of engine power. Brace for return fire."

There was a flicker and then a very loud bang as multiple pulses of gamma energy slammed into Seth's ship. The shields just a few dozen meters away from his human, frail body lit up like the wrath of god himself and cast the whole room into brilliant light.

"Alpha squadron engaging the enemy."

Picking himself off of the floor, Seth looked out to see four small pinpricks of blue light orbiting the enemy battleship, which his retinal implant identified as Aldaris Protectors.

_Ah, those'll be the Punishers._

"Die Matari scum, that should teach you not to steal Imperial property!"

With that, dozens of tiny spears of light could be seen blasting through shielding, deck plating, and bare hull alike. The once-proud Imperator was leaking atmosphere and coolant by the metric ton, and it was a humbling sight.

Then a second volley of pure light connected the banks of Tachyons and the Armageddon.

_What have I done? Oh hell, I haven't got the time to worry about it now._

"Sir, the slave convoy is escaping!"

And that's when they came, by the dozens. Things that didn't look like they belonged above the ground, let alone in space, materialized in perfect formation, bristling with autocannons. Like a swarm of bees they approached at full speed.

"Sir, orders? We're under att-"

Seth cleared his throat and interrupted the captain mid-sentence.

"We aren't under attack yet. Don't move, and most importantly don't shoot!"

Sure enough, the vast fleet of Rifter-class frigates, Thrasher-class destroyers, and Mammoth-class transports cruised directly by the small AMI task force. Seth turned as a chime sounded from the communications panel behind him. He punched the small key that read "Accept" and looked up.

In front of him was a swarthy, thickset man with sunglasses and long, braided hair. Seth opened his mouth, but before he could say a word the man interrupted.

"This is the Matari Special Forces cruiser, Light of Matar, hailing AMI Flagship Insurmountable. I'm Major Kinheri. We spoke earlier."

Seth nodded, already knowing the next question.

"Permission to retrieve and recover all slaves granted. Please leave the pilots and crew alive, thank you. We'll pick them up."

Major Kinheri nodded, and Seth noticed several Rifter frigates detach from the formation to approach the now-stranded Bestower-class haulers.

"This'll only take a few moments," said Kinheri, "You can depart. My own forces will provide security. Thank you for your assistance to the Republic. This will not be forgotten."

Seth nodded in acknowledgment and closed the channel before relaxing back into a plush command chair and closing his eyes. He massaged his face with his hands before contacting his assistant.

"Azih, set course to the Amarr system. Let's see what kind of trouble I'm in."


End file.
